BloggingRef's officiating blog. Contains a journal of his basketball season, as well as his views on general officiating topics as they arise.
Updated frequently during the HS basketball season, sporadically outside of it.

Monday, February 02, 2009

Game Log 2/2/09: Good partners, smooth sailing

The #2 team in the state faced a 1-15 squad tonight. First time they'd faced each other, it was a final score of high double-digits against single-digit. Tonight, the #2 team in the state used this as an opportunity to play their JV. (1-15 had no JV, so we did a freshman/varsity doubleheader. The varsity game was the only way JV would get any work in tonight.) Net result: no real issues.

Freshman game was fairly easy. There was one interesting call where I was T running behind the press when players tried to pin the dribbler against the sideline after a long pass. There was a bit of traffic between me and her, and I saw her step out of bounds. Coach wanted a push. I told her I'd watch for it, but I saw pretty good straight-up defense.

The losing team only had 7 players. When one fouled out with about 5 minutes to go, I remembered that another had four fouls. I ran to my partners. "23 White has four fouls," I told both.

Sure enough, about 30 seconds later, 23 White absolutely creamed a girl on the shot. Couldn't ignore it. Dammit, 23, we tried to cut you some slack, but you wouldn't let us! But I still give myself credit for game awareness and communication.

Other than that--no issues at all.

The Varsity game meant dealing with the coach of the #2 team, who is known to go after people a little bit. I received my baptism on a shooting foul. I'm L, and right in front of me was a colossal hack...whole hand and forearm on whole hand and forearm. The sound, the sight...pretty major-league foul against #2 team. The ball made its way up to the rim, bounced there three times, and fell in. Pretty clear and-one.

I was quite surprised that the coach selected that call to get after me on. We could have called that one from the top row blindfolded. His complaint:

"That must have been quite a hack if the ball was able to get up there and bounce on the rim a bunch of times."

All I could say back was "Coach, it was all arm." I think I even smiled a bit. It was clear I was being tested, but really, on such an obvious call? Probably just a pre-test. I'll get a bigger one when I see him next week, I imagine.

If I'd had time to give a full essay response, I'd have cited this excellent article in which a physics professor says that, if the ball goes up to the rim, there's a greater chance that the player was fouled, not less. The laws of physics say so! But I didn't. Thankfully for both of us.

What I liked most about this game is how we stuck with it to the end. I even had an off-ball call with 30 seconds left when 1-15's center put a forearm to the back and knocked a player to the floor. Can't do that...don't care. I'll admit I took a pass when the losing team fouled the winning team on a 30-foot three-point heave at the buzzer. No need to stick around to shoot three. Coach wanted them, but by the time he registered his protest, I was halfway to the locker room.

One of the top officials in our association--one of my favorites--was working with me and a frequent 2-person partner of mine tonight. He was working heavily with my partner all night (partner was doing far too much ball-watching). He had very little to recommend for me tonight. At the end, all he said was that my mechanics need to tighten up...I'm too loosey-goosey. Yup...I know that. I just have to figure out how to tighten it up. Perhaps I'll join the Marines.

THINGS I DID WELL: Stayed focused in blowout, coach management, called it to the endTHINGS TO WORK ON: Loosey-goosey mechanics, not rotating correclty on free throws sometimes (I want to run down from away-from-table-side to administer when L calls the foul).NEXT UP: Next up is a fairly decent test, actually. It won't make the front page of the sports section, but it's a big matchup against .500 girls' teams. There's significant playoff positioning at stake. And I'm the R. Again...they've quickly started trusting me more and more...I've got to make it a good one.